Kawhi Leonard's free agency situation has caused the Los Angeles Lakers to make limited moves in free agency. Aside from signing Troy Daniels and Jared Dudley to minimum contracts, the Purple and Gold have remained patient, waiting for the two-time Finals MVP to make his decision.
But the Lakers' decision to wait for Leonard could impact several teams as well, particularly those who were involved in making the AD trade happen; the New Orleans Pelicans, Atlanta Hawks, and Washington Wizards. With the Summer League officially underway, those teams would like to get the deal done so their rookies can officially participate in the tournament. The problem is if LA decides to make the Davis trade official before getting any answers from Kawhi on where he'll play next season, their $32 million cap space could go down to $27 million.
However, according to ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk and Bobby Marks, the Pels, Hawks, and Wizards are willing to cooperate with the Lakers on pushing back the AD trade to a date beyond July 6 in order to give LA more time to wait for Kawhi.
League sources told ESPN's Bobby Marks that the Pelicans, Hawks and Wizards are expected to cooperate with the Lakers if Leonard is still undecided by noon Saturday. The date was agreed upon initially in the Lakers and Pelicans' deal sending Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and three first-round picks for Davis. The deal was based on the Lakers using the $32 million in cap space created on a max free agent, such as Leonard or on other players available.
Now, it is worth noting that the Lakers can push the trade to as late as July 30, but the other three teams involved will not allow it to reach that far. As previously mentioned, they want to see their rookies play in the Summer League, so the best case scenario is they will just give LA 24-48 hours, and that's it.
If Leonard is still undecided until the middle of next week, the Lakers might be forced to move on.
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